Mandatory Assignment 03 – Illustration.

For the illustration assignment we were asked to pick a song and create an illustration/poster based on this song.
The song i cjoose was Herr Drosselmeyer’s Doll by Abney park.

There is no opportunity to use text in the poster. The illustration must be in the format 210 x 300 mm, with a resolution of 300ppi and a 3 mm bleed.

Idea Development :I wanted to illustrate the doll as a ballerina on a stage, as the songs lyrics portray her. The target group of the band/song is steampunk and or victorian inspired individuals. I wanted to illustrate this in the clothing of the ballerina and Herr Drosselmeyer, emphasizing the victorian style in favor over a steampunk look.I started to draw the doll/ballerina first and then developed the rest of the illustration around her as she will be the focal point and main focus of the illustration.

Illustration Style :
I decided to go for a painterly and drawn style.Albeit a tad cartoony, it gave the illustration some extra flare concerning the colours choosen.I gave the doll an unnatural hair colour and “blank/colorless” eyes to emphasize the fact that she is “unreal” so to speak, as the song portrays her.

Sketching :I started with some very raw sketches to form a vague idea of what i wanted the illustration to contain. Some sketches of ballet poses and a man in the shadows as i wanted Herr Drosselmeyer to be a bit of a mystery. After getting the essence of the idea down, i started sketching digitally, as i would have a better grasp of what colours i would be using and change things around more easily as i experimented with different colour schemes. I added a pocket watch to illustrate time passed in the illustration and the end of the show. This is when Herr Drosselmeyer need to rewind the doll for the next show.

Illustration/Poster :
The stage, curtains and audiende i sketched out in Adobe Illustrator. Other than that i spent most of the time painting in Photoshop on 1-2 Layers, keeping things simple. I did not really want the audience to show too well, as i felt it could draw the focus away from the main focal point in the illustration. On the printout they are mere shasows as i intended.

Reflections :In the end i got the result i intended, however, In the future i am going to play around more with textures instead of drawing everything by hand, i feel that it would greatly improve and add to my illustrations and in turn giving them a dash of realism.
I was considering recreating a logo in Illustrator and adding to the image but i did not find a good spot for it and feared this would ruin the focal points in the rest of the illustration. However i feel i stayed true to the rule of thirds.